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The Qur’an; Revelation from al-Rehman, guidance and inspiration for al-Insaan.

All praise is to Allah, the Protector of the final Message which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) through the Angel Jibreel. May Peace and Blessings be upon the final Messenger, his family, companions and all those who follow him until the last hour.

Allah says, “O Mankind! There has come to you a heart rending advice from your Sustainer and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers.” (Yunus:57)

The Qur’an is the word of the Ever-living God, it has been sent down to guide humanity for all times to come. No book can be like it, as you come to the Qur’an, God speaks to you. To read the Qur’an is to hear Him, converse with Him and to walk in His ways. It is the encounter of life with the Life-giver. “God- there is no deity except Him, the Ever-living, the Sustainer of Existence. He has sent down upon you, [O, Muhammad], the Book in Truth, confirming what was before it.” (Ale Imran 2-3)

For those who heard it for the first time from the lips of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Qur’an was a living reality. They had absolutely no doubt that, through him, God was speaking to them. Their hearts and minds were therefore seized by it. Their eyes overflowed with tears and their bodies shivered. They found each word of it deeply relevant to their concerns and experiences, and integrated it fully into their lives. They were completely transformed by it; both as individuals and as a nation – into a totally new, alive and life-giving entity. Those who grazed sheep, herded camels and traded petty merchandise became the leaders of mankind.

New World

As we come to the Qur’an, we come to a new world. Each verse (ayah) is a sign of God – informing us of His infinite mercy, power and knowledge. No other venture in our lives can be so momentous and crucial, so blissful and rewarding, as our journey to and through the Qur’an. It is a journey that will take us through the endless joys and riches of the worlds that our Creator and Lord has sent to us and all mankind. Here we will find a world of untold treasures of knowledge and wisdom to guide us on the pathways of life, to mould our thoughts and actions. In it we will find deep insights to enrich us and steer us along the right course. From it you will receive a radiant light to illuminate the deeper reaches of your soul. Here we will encounter profound emotions, warmth to melt our hearts and bring tears running down our cheeks.

It is beyond man’s power to fully comprehend, or to describe the greatness and importance of what the Qur’an holds for him. It is God’s greatest blessing for him. It is the fulfilment of His promise to Adam (peace and blessings be upon him) and his descendants: “…when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance – there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve“ (2:38). It is only the only weapon to help our frail existence as we struggle against the forces of evil and temptation in this world. It is the only means to overpower our fears and anxieties. It is the only light (nur), as we wonder in the darkness, with which to find our way to success and salvation. It is the only healing (shifa) for our inner sicknesses, as well as the social ills that may surround us. It is the constant reminder (dhikr) of our true nature and destiny, of our station, our duties, our rewards and our perils.

God – the Greatest

The Qur’an was brought down by the one who is powerful and trustworthy in the heavens – the angel Gabriel. Its first abode was pure and sublime heart, the like of which no man has ever had – the heart of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). More than anything, it is the only way to come nearer and closer to our creator. It tells us of Him, of His attributes, of how He rules over the cosmos and history, of how He relates Himself to us, and how we should relate to Him and to ourselves. (1)

Virtues of reading the Qur’an

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The best amongst you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” (2)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person well-versed in reading the Qur’an is equal in rank to the Noble, pious, Scribes (angels who record all deeds). He who finds difficulty in reciting the Qur’an will obtain two rewards.” (3)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person whose bosom is devoid of the Qur’an (he who has not learnt anything of the Qur’an Majeed) is like a desolate house.” (4)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person who recites one letter of the Qur’an, obtains one virtue; each virtue multiplies to ten virtues. I do not say that “Alif-Lam-Meem” is one letter. But, Alif is one letter, Lam is one letter and Meem is one letter.” (5)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Continue reciting the Qur’an because on the Day of Qiyamah it will appear as an intercessor for the reciter.” (6)

Abu Sa`id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Allah Most High says, ‘Whoever is busied by the recitation of the Qur’an from asking Me, I grant him the best of what what granted to those who asked.” (7)

Facts about the Qur’an

The Qur’an is in Arabic language.

The Glorious Qur’an is the Word of Allah as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

On reading and understanding the message of the Qur’an one is at once convinced that it is the word of Allah, for no man can write such perfect guidance on so many diverse subjects.

The Holy Qur’an says that no man will be able to forge even a part of it and that no corruption shall touch it from any side. It is a miracle that the Holy Qur’an has remained unchanged and unaltered during all these 1400 years and it shall remain so till the Day of Resurrection, for Allah has taken it on himself to protect it.

The Book of Allah is like an ocean. The less learned, like children, collect pebbles and shells from its shores. The scholars and thinkers, like pearl divers, bring out from it the highest philosophy, wisdom and rules of a perfect way of living.

For easily daily recitation, the Qur’an is divided into thirty equal parts. On average one part takes twenty-four reading minutes, thus the whole Book requires twelve reading hours. There are 114 chapters, and 6,226 verses, containing 99,464 words made up of 330, 113 letters. Allah knows best.

The Qur’an is the most read book on earth, and is memorised by hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the world. It has been translated into over 100 languages.

No person can afford to be ignorant of the Qur’an, for it is the constitution revealed by God to regulate and govern human life. It speaks with the perfect knowledge of the Creator about His creation. It exposes the Truth and invites man to the way of truth. It contains important information about human destiny and that of the individual. It educates and raises man to the highest moral, intellectual and social level when they strive to comprehend it and apply its teachings to life. It is an eternal miracle, a proof of Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prophethood, and a challenge to all succeeding generations. It is of unique and inimitable quality. Revealed fourteen centuries ago, it remains today completely intact and unaltered in its original Arabic form.

Unfortunately, today we as Muslims have deserted the Qur’an. I am writing this article the night before Ramadhan as I know tomorrow Muslims will take down their Qur’ans from their shelves, wipe the dust and read it for the next thirty days. How sad, when the Qur’an was made your ’self’, to rectify yourself (spiritually), not for your shelf! Other than Ramadhan, we may pick it up on the odd occasion of a funeral. Let me ask you brothers and sisters, was the Qur’an revealed for the living or for the dead? And finally, we use it for Ta’weez (amulets). But again, was the Qur’an only made for this purpose? I swear by Allah! If you read the Qur’an and act upon it, the black magic will disappear and those who create magic/witchcraft will also vanish!!

When Khalid bin Waleed (Allah be pleased with him) would return from Jihad, he would lift the Qur’an to his forehead and says, “O Qur’an! Forgive us! We were busy in Jihad and left you.”

DEAR MUSLIMS! What is keeping us busy from the Qur’an?! Facebook? Twitter? Just ‘liking’ a page on Islam or Qur’an and ‘retweeting’ quotes about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and daily hadith is NOT enough as Muslims. We need to act upon Islam and act upon the Qur’an, become ambassadors of Allah, of Islam and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Reading Islamic books and magazines is great, but I remember Shaykh Saleh alMaghamsi once said “No matter what you read; an Islamic book or magazine, whether it is written by a great shaykh or scholar – it cannot equate to one verse of the Qur’an!“

As well as reading the Qur’an, understanding the Qur’an is also important. In previous times, many people would object saying, ‘don’t study the Qur’an alone’ as this will lead you astray. I say, the Qur’an has guided hundreds and thousands to Islam – Alhumdu Lillah! How can you say by reading the Qur’an one will become a deviant? Learn Arabic and join a class, listen to what Allah is telling us. Read the Qur’an with love and devotion, just like a lover reads a letter (email/text nowadays) from his beloved with such concentration and undivided attention. Which brings me to a quote of Mawlana Yusuf Ludhyanwi (Allah have mercy upon him), “The first level of reading Qur’an is to read as though Allah (glorified be He) is listening to you. But the higher level is to read the Qur’an as though Allah (glorified be He) is talking to you himself.” Allah enable us to do so.

Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of not reading the Qur’an daily or even weekly. There was a time not so long ago, when voices of men and women could be heard early in the morning reciting Qur’an. Today, we will hear the sound of the television; cartoons and news. Or it will be music and the radio. Sometimes all we hear is our children bickering over breakfast, as our children have become so spoilt they complain about almost everything. Khayr, that is a different topic for a different day! We seldom hear Qur’an from any house at any time of the day, except Ramadhan. Is it fair to say that we only remember Allah in Ramadhan? We only read His message in Ramadhan? We check our social media account several times a day, we read newspapers every other day, we watch the news a couple of times during the week – all of this is not helpful to us in the Hereafter at all. But the Word of Allah, the Book of Allah, the Message of Allah is picked up once a year! Subhan’Allah – the Muslim Ummah is a sad state of affairs, Allah have mercy on us. Ameen.

Can we not even recite Surah Yaseen daily in the morning? Sayyiduna ibn Abbaas (Radhiallahu Anhu) says, ‘Whoever recites Yaseen in the morning, his work for that entire day will be made easy and whoever recites in at the end of the day, his tasks till the next morning will be made easy.’ (Sunan Daarimi vol.2 pg.549)

Three Quls daily and Ayatul Kursiyy (the greatest verse in the Qur’an). Abdullah bin Khubaib (Radhiallaho anhu) reported: The Messenger of Allah (Sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to me, ”Recite Surat Al-Ikhlas and Al-Mu`awwidhatain (Surat Al-Falaq and Surat An-Nas) three times at dawn and dusk. It will suffice you in all respects.” (8)

It was narrated that Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever recites Ayat Al- Kursi immediately after each prescribed Prayer, there will be nothing standing between him and his entering Paradise except death.” (9)

“When you lie down in your bed, recite ayat al-Kursi, Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists? [al-Baraqah 2:255] until the end of the ayah, then you will have a protector from Allah and no shaytan (devil) will come near you until morning comes.” (10)

For those of you who are thinking, ‘I would love to read Qur’an daily, but I’m too busy’, let this be an eye-opener for you:

Imam Sha’fiee (Allah have mercy upon him) was passing away, his daughter began to cry.

Imam Saheb (Allah have mercy upon him) asked her, “Why are you crying?”

She replied, “My father is passing away.”

Imam Sha’fiee (Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Worry not my daughter, your father has finished 4,000 Qur’an in this house.”

It is said about Imam Abu Hanifah (Allah have mercy upon him), he completed 7,000 Qur’an in his lifetime.

Imam Shu’bah (Allah have mercy upon him) completed 24,000 Qur’an.

Saleh bin Kaysan (Allah have mercy upon him) used to travel at night in the cold on his camel. He would complete two Qur’an at night.

Shaykh Saleem Dhorat Saheb (Allah lengthen his shadow) says, “The Qur’an was revealed in the Night of Power (Laylatul Qadr). We can deduce from this the virtue of the month of Ramadhan, that this was the month that Allah chose for his revelation.” Shaykh further says, “Qur’an is the king of books and Ramadhan is the king of months.”

To conclude, dear friends endeavour in reading the Qur’an and understanding it. And read with Tajweed and the correct pronunciation. Many of us British kids laugh when a man comes from India/Pakistan and has a different accent, or he cannot pronounce ‘sh’ and says ‘sopping’ instead of shopping etc. We really don’t have much room to laugh if we cannot even read Allah’s kalaam correctly. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Many people read Qur’an and the Qur’an curses them.” So we think we are gaining reward, and the Qur’an curses us! How? Because we do not read it correctly with Tajweed. Just a thought: for those who are not Hafidh, but want to recite more Qur’an in Ramadhan they should repeat the same Para every day. E.g. First day 1st para, 2 or 3 times, I believe this will speed your pace. By repeating the same para every day will help you In Sha Allah and you can do more Qur’an in Ramadhan.

Let us reflect upon this:Abandoning the Qur’an has 5 degrees:1. To stop reading it 2.Not reflecting on the verses of the Qur’an 3. Not understanding it 4.Not acting upon it 5. Giving da’wah with Qur’an without portraying it in your own lifeThe rights of the Qur’an:1. To believe in it 2. To recite it 3. To understand it 4. To act upon it 5. To relay the message of the Qur’an

Maa shaa Allah excellent article molana Isma’eel. May Allah accept your efforts and let your words reach every corner of the earth and make you a means of spreading the deen throughout the world. Aamen